| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold | Presented by Equinor | Covid-19 is surging yet again, and this time it's not alone: Flu and RSV are everywhere too. In response, the New York City Health Department issued an advisory strongly recommending that New Yorkers wear masks in public, at all times indoors and in crowded outdoor settings. The question is whether anyone will listen. The health commissioner's advisory is voluntary, with no talk of bringing back a mask mandate — unlike in Los Angeles, which is eyeing such a requirement — and anecdotally, there hasn't been much evidence of changed behavior over the weekend. Unlike in last winter's surge, Mayor Eric Adams hasn't been personally sounding the alarm. Indeed, he isn't necessarily following his administration's own mask advice. Covid cases in the city have risen by 50 percent since Thanksgiving, averaging 3,551 daily infections as of Friday (a significant undercount, since most tests are done at home and not included in the stats). All five boroughs are now at high community virus levels under CDC guidelines. The number of people hospitalized has doubled since September. Hospitals are strained , and children have been particularly hard-hit by RSV , leading to bed shortages at children's hospitals. In addition to masks, the Health Department advises Covid testing before holiday get-togethers. The state issued its own guidance to school districts urging masks to protect against the coronavirus, flu and RSV. The letter from the Departments of Health and Education said the number of lab-confirmed flu cases has nearly tripled over the past three weeks and hospitalizations have doubled. But the state hasn't required masks in schools since March, and several local superintendents said they have no plans to bring back a mandate. IT'S MONDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com , or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold WHERE'S KATHY? Speaking at the Orthodox Union convening on combating antisemitism. WHERE'S ERIC? Attending the Orthodox Union meeting, speaking with New York City's Syrian community leaders, traveling to Washington, D.C., for a reception with Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking at the U.S. State Department's Innovators Gathering: Investing in U.S.-Africa Cultural and Economic Ties, and attending D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's welcoming reception for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
| | | | A message from Equinor: Can a wind turbine generate more than electricity? Yes, it can. At Equinor, our work to power 2,000,000 New York homes with homegrown, renewable energy is only part of the story. The E mpire Wind and Beacon Wind projects are also boosting the economy, generating jobs, and launching tomorrow's clean energy infrastructure today. Equinor is a broad energy company, committed to become net-zero by 2050. We're proud to be a leader in this growing industry. | | | |  | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | " With NYC plan for mentally ill, hospitals face complex task ," by The Associated Press' Jennifer Peltz and Bobby Caina Calvin: "New York City's latest plan to keep mentally ill people from languishing in public is billed as a common-sense strategy to get them help. By encouraging police officers and city medics to take more psychologically disturbed people to hospitals, even if they refuse care, Mayor Eric Adams says he's humanely tackling a problem instead of looking away. But his policy will have to navigate a legal challenge and a cool reception from some city lawmakers." — A federal judge scheduled a hearing for Monday in a legal challenge to the mental illness plan. Adams said opposition to the plan is politically motivated. | 
Advocates for people with mental illnesses protest New York City Mayor Eric Adams' plan to force people from the streets and into mental health treatment, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) | AP |
" New York Subway Fare Could Soon Top $3 to Offset Steep Drop in Riders ," by The New York Times' Ana Ley: "Ridership has yet to return to its prepandemic levels, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the city's subway and buses, has said it could face a budget gap of nearly $3 billion by 2025. As authority officials draft a financial plan for the next four years, they have presented fare increases as one option for helping to offset the loss of riders.
" Brad Lander wants to outlaw firing workers without 'just cause' — even though he did it ," by New York Post's Rich Calder: "City Comptroller Brad Lander is cheerleading a new bill that would prohibit Big Apple businesses from firing employees without just cause – but critics say he doesn't practice what he preaches. In a series of social media posts this week, the far-lefty pol boasted he's working with Democratic Socialists of America-backed Queens Councilwoman Tiffany Caban to promote legislation that would legally protect workers from losing their jobs unless their bosses can demonstrate economic hardship or unsatisfactory work performance." " NYC public libraries say proposed budget cuts may 'push us over the edge ,'" by WNYC's Arya Sundaram: "New York City's public libraries may have to cut staff, hours, branches and programming as they face potential multi-million-dollar budget cuts in Mayor Eric Adams' plan to curtail city spending. Under the administration's so-called Program to Eliminate the Gap, city libraries could face a total of $13.6 million in reductions for the current fiscal year (ending in June 2023) and $20.5 million in each of the next three fiscal years, as highlighted in a report released on Thursday by the city comptroller." " Thousands of NYC speedsters, red-light runners skirt driver safety course ," by New York Post's David Meyer: "Thousands of reckless city drivers who repeatedly run red lights and speed have been able to skirt road safety courses, leaving them still dangerously roaming the streets, The Post has learned. While 16,000 bad drivers have been caught repeatedly flouting city traffic laws on camera, barely 1,000 of them have been notified as per a 2020 city law that they need to take a mandated safety course or have their vehicles seized, records show."
| | | | POLITICO APP USERS: UPGRADE YOUR APP BY DECEMBER 19! We recently upgraded the POLITICO app with a fresh look and improved features for easier access to POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Starting December 19, users will no longer have access to the previous version of the app. Update your app today to stay on top of essential political news, insights, and analysis from the best journalists in the business. UPDATE iOS APP – UPDATE ANDROID APP . | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | " New York Loosens Rules on Locations for Weed Dispensaries ," by The New York Times' Ashley Southall: "New York cannabis regulators have scrapped a rule requiring the state's first retail operators to accept storefronts assigned by the government in an effort to get sales going before the end of the year. The change three weeks before the new year frees up license holders to base their operations out of locations of their choosing, pending the state's approval. ... Some entrepreneurs seeking to enter the recently legalized recreational cannabis market in New York welcomed the flexibility the shift in rules would allow. Other industry observers, however, say that the eased storefront requirement is another sign that state regulators and private investors are falling short of their vows of support for these new businesses." — Community boards are unclear on their role in the opening of dispensaries. Hochul backs lawmakers' pay raise amid talk of special session , by POLITICO's Joseph Spector: Give state lawmakers a raise, Gov. Kathy Hochul says. The state Legislature is contemplating an end-of-year special session to approve raises for lawmakers set to take office in January, potentially bumping their pay from the current $110,000 to $130,000. The increase was part of an original schedule of increases in 2019 that was blocked by the courts. " Troopers PBA remains quiet about leadership shakeup ," by Times Union's Brendan J. Lyons: "The recent leadership shakeup at the labor union representing several thousand state troopers followed allegations of widespread policy violations, including undisclosed conflicts of interest and questionable financial and hiring practices, according to interviews with people familiar with the matter and internal documents. But it remains unclear whether the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association will report any alleged misconduct to an outside agency or enlist forensic auditors or other external investigative services to examine the issues." " Lester Chang insists on residency proof to retain NYC Assembly post ," by New York Post's Rich Calder and Khristina Narizhnaya: "Brooklyn Republican Lester Chang insists he has the proof to show he met residency requirements ahead of last month's stunning election win over longtime Assemblyman Peter Abbate, Jr. (D-Dyker Heights). 'I am personally offended that anyone would challenge my honor and integrity,' Chang said Saturday at a rally in Sunset Park, where he was joined by other Republican pols and supporters." " Why Some Hasidic Children Can't Leave Failing Schools ," by The New York Times' Eliza Shapiro: "Beatrice Weber wakes up most mornings afraid that her son's Hasidic Jewish school is setting him up to fail. Her 10-year-old, Aaron, brims with curiosity, and has told his mother that he wants to work for NASA. But his school, like other Hasidic boys' schools in New York, teaches only cursory English and math and little science or social studies. It focuses instead on imparting the values of the fervently religious Hasidic community, which speaks Yiddish rather than English and places the study of Jewish law and prayer above all else. Recently, Ms. Weber said, Aaron's teacher told him that the planets revolve around the Earth." #UpstateAmerica: An Eastern Cottonwood outside Schaghticoke with a circumference of about 34 feet has been determined *probably* the largest documented tree in the state.
| | | | A message from Equinor: The energy transition is the defining challenge opportunity of our time. Our world needs energy to keep moving forward — but it must be affordable, reliable, and accessible. We all have a role to play. At Equinor, we're doing our part by helping accelerate the energy transition. We're growing our renewable energy portfolio and lowering emissions from production. We're already on the way to powering about 2,000,000 New York homes with energy from the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind offshore wind projects. We're creating jobs, building tomorrow's infrastructure, and sparking new economic activity. But for us, that's only the beginning. By the time the global population reaches 9 billion in 2050, our goal is to have net-zero emissions. Discover more about Equinor at www.equinor.com/USA. | | | | | ACROSS THE RIVER | | New Jersey overhauled its bail system under Christie. Now some Democrats want to roll it back , by POLITICO's Matt Friedman and Joseph Spector: Eight years ago, then-Republican Gov. Chris Christie teamed up with Democrats to pass a major overhaul of New Jersey's criminal justice system, ushering through legislation that made the state among the first in the nation to effectively eliminate cash bail. There was little political uproar. Now, some of the state's most powerful Democrats want to roll back those changes amid rising crime and political lessons from neighboring New York, where another bail overhaul became a major issue in the midterms and fueled key House losses for the party.
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | Here's the fallout the Trump Org. conviction could wreak , by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: The Trump Organization's potential $1.6 million fine for tax fraud may be a relative pittance to a billionaire. But the stigma is sure to taint its future deals — and hang heavy over former President Donald Trump's myriad other legal battles. A Manhattan jury found the company guilty Tuesday on 17 criminal counts stemming from a tax-dodging executive-compensation scheme. The verdict could deal a blow to the company's bottom line and bolster other cases targeting Trump and his businesses, according to legal experts, including the one who first brought the case.
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Many NYPD officers are leaving for higher pay in smaller jurisdictions. — Part-time faculty members at the New School agreed to end a strike . — The Bronx got the lowest amount of pandemic small business loans from the city, according to a new report. — A popular SoHo basketball court will be closed for years due to MTA construction. — Gloversville's got it going on (it hopes). — A City Council member in Queens is calling for Vocal-NY to lose its city funding after one of its members made anti-Asian comments at a Council hearing. — Independent voters, or "blanks," outnumber Republicans for the second-largest voting bloc in New York state, and that's changing political calculus . — Cab drivers with arrests on their records say the Taxi and Limousine Commission has wrongly suspended their licenses .
| | | | JOIN THURSDAY FOR A CONVERSATION ON FAMILY CARE IN AMERICA : Family caregivers are among our most overlooked and under-supported groups in the United States. The Biden Administration's new national strategy for supporting family caregivers outlines nearly 350 actions the federal government is committed to taking. Who will deliver this strategy? How should different stakeholders divide the work? Join POLITICO on Dec. 15 to explore how federal action can improve the lives of those giving and receiving family care across America. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Lanny Davis … Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson … Fox Business' Liz Claman … AP's Seth Borenstein … Helen Sharp … Alexander Levine … Elizabeth Brim … (was Sunday): Kara Swisher … PBS' Margaret Hoover … Jacob J. Schacter … (was Saturday): POLITICO's Erin Durkin … Symone Sanders-Townsend … NBC's Andrea Canning … Marc Mezvinsky … CNN's Kristin Wilson and Alex Koppelman … Fox News' Mike Emanuel … Mitchell Rubenstein … Bruce Thomas … Ivan Seidenberg ... Joseph Chetrit ... Roy Bahat MAKING MOVES — Justin McNabney has been named head of the special victims division at the Manhattan District Attorney's office. He was formerly chief of the human trafficking response unit. … Leanne Politi is joining The Martin Group as a public affairs supervisor. She was formerly executive director of communications at Hinman Straub. MEDIAWATCH — Lynn Doan has been named managing editor of technology in Europe and the U.S. East at Bloomberg News and will oversee their global cybersecurity team. She most recently was managing editor of energy and commodities news in the Americas at Bloomberg. … Anna Kitanaka has been named the executive editor for equality at Bloomberg. She most recently was managing editor of energy and commodities in Asia at Bloomberg. ENGAGED — Noah Rinsky, founder of the platform Old Jewish Men, recently proposed to Liana Satenstein, senior fashion writer at Vogue. After he asked her over coffee, she said she had to sleep on it. One thing they have decided on, in classic Old Jewish Men fashion, are their plots. He got the ring from New Top Jewelry; it boasts the sauciest mafioso thick Canal Street band. They met after a mutual friend set them up. Pic ... Another pic
| | Real Estate | | " How a Hotel Was Converted into Housing for Formerly Homeless People ," by The New York Times' Stefanos Chen: "Once a hotel for Jehovah's Witnesses, the converted building on Sands Street will have 305 formerly homeless tenants, who pay no more than 30 percent of their income, which often includes social security and other entitlements. Another 185 rent-restricted tenants will pay between $537 and $2,132 a month for studio and one-bedroom apartments. So far, more than 160 tenants have moved in. The median rent in the neighborhood is nearly $5,800 a month, according to StreetEasy. The most unusual thing about the project is that it happened at all." " Governors Island rezoning challenge dismissed by judge ," by Gothamist's Michelle Bocanegra: "A lawsuit hanging over redevelopment plans for the southern portion of Governors Island was dismissed by a judge this week, though the Manhattan resident leading the charge against rezoning plans said they would appeal the decision. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lynn R. Kotler tossed a legal challenge brought by Robert Manning in September of 2021, saying in an order dated Thursday that the petition was denied on its merits." | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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